Biochemist, born in Burlington, Massachusetts, USA. He studied chemistry at Brandeis University (1978) and attended Tufts University School of Medicine (1982), later joining the faculty at Harvard Medical School. In 1996 he moved to the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Rockefeller University, NY, where he became professor and head of the Laboratory of Molecular Neurobiology and Biophysics. He shared the 2003 Nobel Prize for Chemistry with Peter Agre for discoveries concerning channels in cell membranes, MacKinnon's contribution involving the structural and mechanistic studies of ion channels.
Roderick MacKinnon (born 19 February 1956 in Burlington, Massachusetts) is a professor of Molecular Neurobiology and Biophysics at Rockefeller University who in 2003 was awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry for his work on the structure and operation of ion channels.
Before MacKinnon, the detailed molecular architecture of channels and the exact means by which they convey ions remained speculative.
In 1999, MacKinnon shared the Albert Lasker Award for Basic Medical Research -- the nation's most distinguished honor for outstanding contributions to basic and clinical medical research-- with Clay Armstrong and Bertil Hille.
A professor of Molecular Neurobiology and Biophysics at the Rockefeller University and an investigator with Howard Hughes Medical Institute, MacKinnon was elected to the U.S. National Academy of Sciences in 2000.
He received a bachelor's degree in biochemistry from Brandeis University in 1978 and a medical degree from Tufts University School of Medicine.
Dr. MacKinnon has received numerous awards for his research, including the 2000 Rosenstiel Award and the 2001 Gairdner Foundation International Award.
He is a member of the Alpha Omega Medical Honor Society, a PEW scholar in the BioMedical Sciences and the recipient of the McKnight Scholars Award, the Biophysical Society Young Investigator Award, the McKnight Investigator Award, the W. Alden Spencer Award and the AAAS Newcomb Cleveland Prize.
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